Nose: Honeysuckle, vanilla and pear nose. Incredibly round, soft and smooth scents. The nose is amazing on this comparatively older Soave.Palate: Velvety soft mouth feel that has a lovely balance and just enough of an acid backbone to stand up without buckling. Elegant and delightful. Great structure that stands up to fatty dishes.Finish: Young finish even though this is over 6 years old! Lasting and Lingering greenery and honeydew melon tastes.Overall: This is the best Soave I have had the opportunity to taste! It is bold and round while maintaining a sophisticated and balanced elegance. The nose is simply amazing. This Italian white wine is comprised ofGarganega 85% andChardonnay 15%. The Chardonnay imparts a buttery fullness while the Garganega delivers on structure and vanilla. It is an amazing blend and a truly Superior Soave!

We had the opportunity to taste this with PB of this blog while he was out visiting from the Northern Wine Cask Blog Annex. It was made even more delightful for his being here. Raise a Glass!

Maybe I shouldn't have been surprised, but I found myself pleasantly surprised that this wine is quite nice. It's fragrant and shows some other interesting characteristics that keep it real and not overly manufactured.

The price is around $15, and it should pair well with lighter dishes and poultry. I recommend you grab this as a nice value-priced Pinot Noir if you happen to see it. Raise a glass!

Dense, rich layers of dark fruit, smoke, cedar, and loam on the finish

Summary:

This wine is drinking beautifully right now. It'sexpressive and full of flavor, accented by smoky notes throughout. Merlot dominates the blend with Cabernet Franc and Cabernet Sauvignon, much like many other classified St. Emilion wines from the Bordeauxregion of France.

Good friends shared this wine with us over a wonderful dinner of lamb. Retail prices for the 2001, where available,seem to be around $140. Raise a glass!

Purple garnet hue with aromas of black berry mulberry, with notes of cedar and chocolate.

Palate--Rich textured foundation of big fruit bomb berries with plenty of milk chocolate. Tannins are young and mouth drying but should mature and mellow. Finish is considerable with dark fruit and light spice with charred oak hint.

This Columbia Valley blend is a compilation of Mourvedre, Merlot, Tempranillo, Petit Verdot, Petite Sirah, Grenache, Syrah and Barbera. Normally I tend not to care for "hyper blended" wines of this many grapes as it tastes like what it is; a hodgepodge.

But in this case I am inclined to believe the Milbrandt brothers have made it work as a drinkable red wine with decent flavor heft and structure. It is too young to enjoy fully but its never-the-less a tasty full flavored red wine. It lacks integration but a couple years should help that. I will pair it tonight with an Italian dish of some sort.

I paid $13 for it and it's a big wine but needs a couple more years. Buy one and lay it down; it might just reward the wait!

Powerful strawberry aromas that are nearly floral contained in a lovely purple hue.

Minerally front with strawberry fruit, deliciously fresh and fruity. A day later there is a huge blast of white pepper through the fruit!

Beaujolias Villages is a step up from the label that simply reads "Beaujolais" nouveau and it costs a couple dollars more. I grabbed it for $12. It is classic Nouveau and both the Beaujolais and Beaujolais Villages are wonderful examples of the fruity Gamay grape made in this ready to drink informal style.

We are pleased to offer you our 2,500th wine review below! It's a bit of a milestone as we've averaged nearly one review posted per day for over 7 years. We hope you've enjoyed the reading and have made good use of our straightforward postings. Many of our recommended wines earning our "Raise a glass!" endorsement are value priced as well. Sometimes we enjoy collectible and high priced wines, but we often concentrate on every day wines which most people want to know about. Thanks for visiting our site and please let us know if you have any feedback. Raise a glass!

Pale gold with aromas of bright melon, hints of peach, and dynamic notes of citrus.

Palate--Sweeter than usual style perhaps but perfectly integrated and balanced out by a beam of juicy acidity. Tasty fruity, tastes like a good Riesling.

How can you not love Gewurztraminer the grape with the hard to pronounce name? Say-- "Ga VURTS tra MEEN er" and raise a glass of this under $8 varietal. Great as an aperitif or with oriental or spicy and hard to pair Mediterranean food.

Garnet hue with aromas of understated dark berry and a touch of sour cherry and green spice;

Palate--Chewy tannins with some darker berry flavor and a couple other things trying to fight their way out of a youthful foundation. The youthful foundation is winning. Smokey finish that is fleeting.

This wine is too young to enjoy but shows some potential. This is a 70% blend of Merlot with 20% Cabernet Franc and 10% Cabernet Sauvignon from the Cotes de Castillon. There are some solid value wines coming out of this Bordeaux region.

I paid $15 marked down from $20 but it just isn't ready. The Wine Spectator gave this wine 90 points with a vastly different review than this one which does not occur very often. If you find it for $15 or less I might grab a couple and lay them down. they may reward you in a couple 3-5 years. Raise a glass of something more mature and have a great Thanksgiving day! Remember from Whom all blessings flow!

Bouquet--Some nice plum and cigar box aromas trying to fight through the slightly corked musty smell of wet cardboard. Even with that there are notes of dill and cedar.

Palate--Slightly sour and somewhat austere fruit but what's there is good. There is even some interesting spice notes as well.

Most people would not recognize this as being flawed and even with my hypersensitive nose and palate to cork taint, it is marginal but definite.

I grabbed this since it was a 100% Cabernet varietal from Spain which I don't know if I have ever had one before. I paid $9 for it and if this wasn't corked it would probably show as a really decent wine. If I lived near the store I would grab another to give it a 2nd chance and wouldn't hesitate to return it if it was. As I have written before, I almost never have a problem with a store receiving back a bad wine.

A Thanksgiving Day meal with friends and family provides a perfect opportunity to enjoy nice wine. Because so much fuss is made over food and wine pairings in general, I find people get a little stressed out about what to serve guest on this special day. Fortunately, many wines have a much broader range than they get credit for. With that in mind, I have some basic suggestions that might help.

If you are planning a very traditional Thanksgiving meal, complete with Turkey and all the assorted sides, a number of red wines can work well like Cabernet Sauvignon, Pinot Noir, Zinfandel, and Merlot. All of these varietals have a pretty broad range, except maybe the Zinfandel. However, I put Zinfandel on the list because it works well with cranberry sauce and heavy starches like mashed potatoes and sweet potatoes.

In order to make things even more festive at the table, I suggest you offer guests two wines. This is especially easy if you are able to provide you guests with two wine glasses and allow them to pour and sip as they like. Simply place the bottles on the table and allow your guests to discover the different pairings as they please.

As a rule of thumb, plan for at least a half bottle per person while at the table. Which two wines? Try offering one Cabernet Sauvignon and one Pinot Noir, perhaps both from American wineries in the spirit of the holiday.

While wines at the dinner table are often the focal point, don't forget that you can create a special experience with wines before and after the meal. A nice bubbly is a great way to start the festivities, especially with assorted appetizers or finger food. To finish things off, try a nice dessert wine. Something sweet but light, for example a muscat or icewine, should help wash down the pie. Do this before the coffee.